Users often store content items, such as files or photographs, in a synced, online content management system, such as the Dropbox™ service, which is offered by Dropbox, Inc. of San Francisco, Calif. In many cases, it is useful for an application that is being operated by a user to be able to access these content items. For example, an email client may be asked by a user to attach a content item to an email message. Unfortunately, no way presently exists for such an email client to obtain information about content items associated with the user. So, at present, the user must manually navigate through a file system to locate a content item to attach to an email message instead of simply being presented with a list of content items that belong to the user.
Hence, what is needed is a mechanism that allows applications to obtain information about content items that belong to a user.